U.S. Navy Fires Warning Shots at Iranian Military Vessel in Persian Gulf

WASHINGTON — A U.S. Navy patrol boat fired warning shots at an Iranian military vessel that approached it at high speed Tuesday, two U.S. defense officials said.

The incident happened in the Northern Persian Gulf and marks the latest confrontation between Iranian and American military ships in the area.

Two U.S. defense officials told NBC News that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) vessel approached the USS Thunderbolt and three other U.S. ships that were conducting routine exercises.

They said the skiff failed to react to bridge-to-bridge communications nor did it respond to five short blasts, a sound warning for possible danger, coming as close as 150 yards.

Officials said the Iranian vessel did have guns on board but they were not manned and initially remained covered.

Although it did uncover its guns after the warning shots were fired, the weapons remained unmanned and by this point the ship had stopped, the officials said.

The coastal patrol craft USS Thunderbolt (PC 12) in the Persian Gulf on January 7, 2015. U.S. Department of Defense / via EPA

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement released via state news agency Fars that the boat was "on routine patrol in the Persian gulf when the America vessel came along side it and fired warning shots, the Iranian boat carried on course with its patrol and that the action of the Americans was extremely unprofessional."